1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a print control apparatus for causing a printer unit to print data input from an information processing apparatus, a print control method, and a storage medium storing control programs used in the print control apparatus.
The present invention also relates to an information processing apparatus for outputting data to a plurality of print control apparatuses via a network, an information processing method, and a storage medium storing control programs used in the information processing apparatus.
2. Related Background Art
As conventional printers, an image printer, a page printer, and the like are known. The image printer receives image data from an external unit such as a host computer and performs a print operation. The page printer receives print data written in a page-description language or the like, and performs a print operation after rasterizing (rendering) the data into a bit image on the basis of the language data.
Print settings in printers of this type vary depending on the features and characteristics of the printers. A user performs setting for each print data as needed.
In a conventional printer, it is difficult for the user to find an optimal setting for a particular document to be printed, and hence it takes time to perform an operation for the setting. When a plurality of printers are set in a network, in particular, the user cannot determine which printer is the optimal one to print a ceratin document.
Such a problem is associated with control done by a host computer, and the performance of each printer cannot be known unless a print operation is actually performed. In addition, when print data are to be distributed and printed, optimal distributed print processing of the print data cannot often be performed.